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Horace Greeley in Texas

That Greeley was sincere in his vocal support of the cause ofjustice in Texas was soon proved. De Witt Clinton Giddings, aDemocrat, was elected congressman from the Third Texas Dis-trict, which included both Houston and Galveston. But the Re-publican incumbent, William Thomas Clark, was given the cre-dentials by Governor Davis, and served from March 4, 1871, untilMay 13, 1872. Giddings successfully contested the election of hiscarpetbag opponent on the thirteenth of May.Through the columns of the Tribune, Greeley supported theseating of Giddings. When the approval of the Democrat wasannounced, John H. Reagan wrote, "To Horace Greeley's penmore than to any one other thing do the people of the ThirdTexas District owe it that they are represented by their own rep-resentative rather than by the creature turned out by the unani-mous vote of the House."32 The Texas Republicans met in con-vention in Houston in May, 1872, to nominate candidates forthe presidential electors. At that time, the Republicans endorsedPresident Ulysses S. Grant for a second term, rejecting the nom-ination of Greeley. Yet, when the people of Texas went to thepolls, they gave Horace Greeley, a Liberal Republican acceptedby the Democrats, a majority of 19,o020o votes.8* Horace Greeleyhad failed to capture the hearts of Texas Republican leaders, buthe had won the approval of Lone Star voters.82Sam Acheson, 35,000 Days in Texas (New York, 1938), 74.a3Charles W. Ramsdell, "Reconstruction in Texas," Studies in History, Economics,and Political Science, XXXVI (New York, 1910), 313.